Ripe

adj, name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of a fruit, vegetable, seed, etc., ready for reaping or gathering; having attained perfection; mature.

    "ripe grain"

  2. 2
    Rife not-comparable, proscribed

    "The current state of the tech industry is ripe with danger and poses an existential threat, he believes."

  3. 3
    Of a food, advanced to the state of fitness for use; mellow.

    "ripe cheese"

  4. 4
    Having attained its full development; mature; perfected. figuratively

    "He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one."

  5. 5
    Of a sore, tumor, etc., maturated or suppurated; ready to discharge. archaic
Show 6 more definitions
  1. 6
    Ready for action or effect; prepared.

    "while things were just ripe for a war"

  2. 7
    Ofa person, ready, willing, eager. colloquial

    "I'm starting somethin' myself. I'm ripe to fight. It's this country air!"

  3. 8
    Like ripened fruit in ruddiness and plumpness.

    "Those happy smilets, / That played on her ripe lip."

  4. 9
    Intoxicated. obsolete

    "Alonso: And Trinculo is reeling-ripe: where should they / Find this grand liquor that hath gilded them? / How cam'st thou in this pickle?"

  5. 10
    Of a conflict between parties, having developed to a stage where the conflict may be reviewed by a court of law.

    "Problems emerge in judging whether a case is ripe, however, when contested general agency directives are issued that are not aimed at specific parties."

  6. 11
    Smelly: having a disagreeable odor.

    "Dolores, giving her a bath yesterday, said she was a bit ripe under the armpits."

Adjective
  1. 1
    far along in time wordnet
  2. 2
    at the highest point of development especially in judgment or knowledge wordnet
  3. 3
    fully developed or matured and ready to be eaten or used wordnet
  4. 4
    most suitable or right for a particular purpose wordnet
  5. 5
    fully prepared or eager wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A village in Chalvington with Ripe parish, Wealden district, East Sussex, England (OS grid ref TQ5110).
Noun
  1. 1
    A fruit or vegetable which has ripened.

    "When he realized that the ripes would not make it back to Selma, Zemurray offered a free bunch of bananas to any telegraph operator who notified local grocers that he was coming through with a shipment of bananas."

  2. 2
    The bank of a river.
  3. 3
    A tuberculosis treatment regimen consisting of rifampicin (R), isoniazid (I), pyrazinamide (P), and ethambutol (E). uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To ripen or mature. intransitive

    "[…] he answer'd, "Do not so; / Slubber not business for my sake, Bassanio, / But stay the very riping of the time; / […]"

  2. 2
    To search; to rummage. obsolete, transitive

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English ripe, rype, from Old English rīpe (“ripe, mature”), from Proto-West Germanic *rīpī, from Proto-Germanic *rīpijaz, *rīpiz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyb- (“to snatch”). Cognate with West Frisian ryp (“ripe”), Dutch rijp (“ripe”), German reif (“ripe”). Related to reap.

Etymology 2

From Middle English ripe, rype, from Old English rīpe (“ripe, mature”), from Proto-West Germanic *rīpī, from Proto-Germanic *rīpijaz, *rīpiz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyb- (“to snatch”). Cognate with West Frisian ryp (“ripe”), Dutch rijp (“ripe”), German reif (“ripe”). Related to reap.

Etymology 3

From Middle English ripe, rype, from Old English rīpe (“ripe, mature”), from Proto-West Germanic *rīpī, from Proto-Germanic *rīpijaz, *rīpiz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyb- (“to snatch”). Cognate with West Frisian ryp (“ripe”), Dutch rijp (“ripe”), German reif (“ripe”). Related to reap.

Etymology 4

From Middle English ripe, from Latin ripa.

Etymology 5

An alteration of rife.

Etymology 6

Recorded as Ripe in 1086 (DB), from Old English rip, "edge or strip of land".

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